What speed is your Boulder launching at

[dradel]

Just wondering what kind of speeds teams are either seeing or expecting their boulders to be flying at?
We used a radar gun on ours this evening and the team as a whole was smiling from ear to ear. 56 mph or 82fps

[Peyton Yeung]

Is hella an acceptable speed? Our's moves at about the speed of an unladen swallow.

[Tom Line]

Over 9000. RPM.

[EricH]

Originally Posted by Peyton Yeung

Is hella an acceptable speed? Our's moves at about the speed of an unladen swallow.

African or European?


Ours currently doesn't. I haven't asked just how fast we should actually shoot when we get it built, but a prototype shooting from near the Defenses tried to shoot down any flags that might have been on top of the Tower.

[dradel]

My reason for asking is two fold.. One I am curious by nature, second I am curious to know what teams thoughts are on trying to block shots with their robots knowing the speeds that the boulders are being launched at.

[Chris Endres]

One might say...ludicrous speed...

[Jacob Bendicksen]

Originally Posted by dradel

I am curious to know what teams thoughts are on trying to block shots with their robots knowing the speeds that the boulders are being launched at.

The pool noodle thread I was just looking at comes to mind...it doesn't take much to deflect even the hardest of shots. Many robots were cheesecaked with pool noodle blockers in 2013, and I expect to see similar strategies employed this year.

[Ginger Power]

We're somewhere in the range of ludicrous speed to bench grinder.

[D_Price]

Speed of light as an acceptable measure of our boulder's speed

[Tom Line]

Originally Posted by Ginger Power

We're somewhere in the range of ludicrous speed to bench grinder.

Hrm. I suppose putting it in terms of bench grinders would be more appropriate. I hadn't thought of that.

2.1 bench grinders. (Spell correct just tried to change grinders to gingers. Silly spellcheck. Gingers aren't a measure of speed).

[hectorcastillo]

We launch ours at 88mph during qualification rounds so that they'll move forward in time and all get scored simultaneously in the finals.

[Ginger Power]

Originally Posted by Tom Line

Hrm. I suppose putting it in terms of bench grinders would be more appropriate. I hadn't thought of that.

2.1 bench grinders. (Spell correct just tried to change grinders to gingers. Silly spellcheck. Gingers aren't a measure of speed).

I hear Gingers are pretty fast.

[MechMentor]

If we shot the boulder through a Chronograph it would be around "Do we really need this much speed and force?" feet per second. It's enough to help a five-ounce bird carry a one pound coconut.

[IndySam]

enough

[BoilerMentor]

Well, the surface speeds on our sets of shooter wheels are 100 and 130 fps at maximum motor output. We generally run it between 60% and 70%. I know we've got a lot of slip. So, the answer is just really, really fast.